~~p^  Conf  Pam  12mo  #575 

.?£  DVI047231Z 


#5p 


[tor  THE   SOLMDRS.]  No.  29. 

MY  SPIRIT  SHALL  NOT  ALWAYS  SJRlVl 

EY    REV.    J.    It.    FOWI.ES,    OF    S.    C. 


There  is  a  period  in  the  life  of  man,  to  which  if  he  live  in 
a  state  of  perverseness  and  impenitence,  his  cup  of  iniquity 
will  be  full ;  and  to  him  "  there  remaineth  no  more  sacrifice 
for  sin,  but  a  fearful  looking  for  of  judgment  and  fiery  indig- 
nation." There  is  Borne  series  of  rebellious 
which,  when  committed,  constituted  a  point  beyond  which  no 
ray  of  mercy  will  ever  reach  him. 

So  perverse  and  so  sinful  is  the  lieart'of  man.  that,  left  to 
himself,  perdition  will  ensue.  So  bent  is  he.  on  transgression, 
so  alienated  from  God  and  holiness,  that  unless  God  induces 
him,  by  the  aid  of  Iris  Spirit,  to  forsake  and  rebent  of  sin,  he 
will  persist  in  iniquity,  and  perish.  That  soul  from  whom  the 
Spirit  has  taken  his  final  flight,  ie 

This  truth  is  taught  explicitly  in  the  word  of  God.  "My 
Spirit  shall  not  always  strive  with  man."  "  My  people  would 
not  hearken  to  my  voice,  so  I  gave  them  up  unto  their  own 
hearts'  lusts;  and  they  walked  in  their  own  counsels.'' 
Though  they  cry  unto  me,  1  will  not  hearken  unto  them:" 
"Then  God  turned,  and  gave  them  up  to  worship  the  host 
of  heaven."  "For  this  cause  God  gave  them  up  unto  vile 
affections."  "  For  this  cause  God  shall  sCnd  tinshr stroifg 
delusion,  that  they  should  be*Hve  a  lie;  that  (hey  all  might 
be  damned  who  believe  not  t\m  truth,  but  have  pleasure  in 
unrighteousness. "  "Ephraim  is  joined  to  his  idols;  let  him 
alone."  They  rebelled  and  vexed  the  Holy  Spirit  ;  therefore 
he  was  turned  to  be  their  enemy  and  fought  against  him." 
Thus  the  word  of  tie  Lord  establishes  the  truth,  that  there 
is  a  period  somewhere  in  the  progress  of  man  through  this 
world,  to  which  if  he  live  in  rebellion  against  his  Maker, 
God's  forbearance  and  mercy  will  be  extended  to  him  no 
longer;  beyond  which  the  Spirit  of  the  Lord  is  ''turned  to 
be  his  enemy,  and  lights  against  him  ;"  beyond  which  his 
damnation  is  sealed. 


I  MY    .SPIRIT    SHALL    NOT    ALWAYS    STRIVE. 

The  sinner  knows  not  at  any  moment,  whether  he  ftfcvc 
already  passed  the  line  which  .separates  the  land  of  hope,  from 
the  land  of  despair;  whether  it  lies  i'ar  in  the  region  of  the 
future,  or  whether  he  stand  on  its  verge.  God  has  fixed  this 
line,  hut  to  none  other  has  he  revealed  where  it  lies.  The 
impenitent  trangressor  goes  onward  in  life  at  the  hazard,  and 
under  the  imminent  peril,  at  eaeh  step,  of  passing  the  hound* 
of  the  region  ot  hope  and  barring  on  himself  e  tern  all)  the 
doors  of  the  kingdom  of  heaven.  The  next  immoral  act,  for 
aught  that  ia  revealed,  may  he  the  .act  which  nils  to  overflow- 
ing the  cup  of  his  iniquity.  A  vessel  nearly  filled  may  run  over 
by  adding  another  drop.  Though  the  sin  may  not  he  of  so 
deep  a  dye  as  a  series  of  others  of  which  he  has  been  guilty, 
yet  this  added  to  the  long  catalogue  of  his  former  crimes,  may 
close  his  probation.  This  as  the  last  crowning  act  of  rebell- 
ion, may  seal  his  doom. 

A  benevolent  father  may  for  ever  disinherit  his  son  forisome 
seemingly  venial  act  of  transgression.  This  act  is  the  occa- 
sion, net  the  cause  of  his  disinheritance.  A  long  series  of  re- 
bellious acts  may  have  evinced  a  spirit  of  irreconcilable  aver- 
sion and  hostility  to  the  parent.  Repeated  persuasions  and 
reproof  have  been  tried,  but  hestiil  continues  in  his  wayward 
course.  Repeated  acts  of  disobedience,  enhance  his  guilt, 
The  father  now  determines  to  execute  his.  threatening  on  occa- 
sion of  the  next  transgression,  The  son  persists ;  he  commits 
an  act,  not  perhaps  as  glaringly  vicious  as  some  which  have 
preceded  it,  butstill  evincing  aspirt  of  insubordination.  The 
lather  fulfils  his    threatening,  and  disinherits  him    for  ever. 

So  God  on  the  occasion  of  some  seemingly  venial  sin — but 
be  it  remembered,  no  sin  is  small--  may  determine  to  dry  up 
the  fountain  of  his  mercy;  when  the  sinner  eries,  not  to 
hearken  ;  to  "  laugh  at  his  calamity,  and  mock  when  his 
fear  c^mi-th."  May,  refusal  on  the  part  of  the  sinner  to  com- 
ply now  with  the  call  of  mercy,  and  yield  his  heart  to  God, 
may  he  the  act,  which  when  connected  with  the  heinous  sins 
already  noted  in  the  great  book  of  remembrance,  Jehovah 
determines  to  make  the  occasion  of  his  Spirit's  final  flight,  ami 
of  the  sealed  perdition  of  the  soul. 

Go,  stand  by  the  death- bed  of  the  aged,  obdurate  sinner ; 
watch  his  restless  and  impure  spirit, which  is  about  to  be  yield- 
ed into  the  hands  of  him  wdio  gave  it  He  writhes,  it  is  true 
under  bodily  torture, but  this  bears  no  contrast   with  the   in- 


MY    SPlRIl    SftALI     SOI     ALWAYS    STRTVF. 

ward  fire.  Despair  is  depicted  in  \n<  countenance.  \i^  al- 
ternately eupplicatee  arid  blasphemes  his  Maker.  He  already 
experiences  the gnawings  of  "the  worm  that  dieth  not,"  and 
of  "the  lire  t.hat  is  notqiicnched."  His  doom  is  S'aSett,  But 
when'  Perhaps  not  in  his  dying  hour.  In  the  mind  of  God, 
it.  may  be  his  present  despair  and  iuture  torments  are  connec- 
ted with  some  distant  scene  In  the  past,  where,  as  he  was 
seated  under  the  droppings  of  the  sanctuary,  listened  to  the 
proclamation  of  the  gospel,  heard  ihe  chums  of  God  in  Christ 
enforced  thought  of  duty  and  the  yielding  of  his  heart — he 
deferred  obedience  to  the  Spirit's  dictates  to  a  mote  convent 
en t season;  and  the  heavenly  messenger,  thus  grieved  and 
mocked,  took  his  final  flight. 

Reader,  the  brevity  and  uncertainty  of  life  are  not  the  only  in- 
ducements to  immediate  repentance. 

True,  this  lite  is  "a  vapor,  that  appeareth  for  a  little  time 
and  then  vanisheth  away.  "  It  is  a.s  "  the  flower  of  the  grass 
which  before  the  burning  heat  of  the  sun,  withereth."  It  is 
indeed,  when  raoet  protracted,  but  a  short  period  to  employ 
in  winning  a  crown  of  glory.  Its  uncertainty,  too — for  who 
knowcth  he  shall  see  to-morrow? — is  forcibly  presented  in 
the  Scriptures,  to  wean  from  sin  and  draw  toduty  now.  But 
with  nil  these  warnings  sounding  in  hia  ears,  under  the  delu- 
sions of  sin,  man  practically  views  this  world  as  his  eternal 
home.  He  feels  and  rejoices  in  his  present  health  and  vigor, 
and  thinks  not  that  his  body  will  soon  die. 

Yet  mark,  impenitent  fellow-man,  God's  grace  is  sovereign. 
Though  your  life  be  protracted  to  the  end  of  the  world; 
Though  you  were  assured  by  God  you  should  not  die  until 
"  the.  heavens  shall  pass  away  with  a  great  noise,  and  the 
elements  shall  melt  with  fervent  heat,"  it  becomes  you  not 
to  defer  repentance  to  a  future  day. 

The  inspired  truth,  "  Mow  is  the  accepted  time,  behold, 
now  is  the  day  of  salvation,"  receives  not  all  its  solemnity 
and  f  >rce  from  the  brevity  and  uncertainty  of  life.  It  has 
another  and  more  fearful  import:  "My  Spirit,  shall  not  al- 
ways strive  with  man."  The  Holy  Spirit  may  "turn  to  be 
thine  enemy  and  fight  against  thee.*'  The  mandate  may  go 
forth,  "H«  is  joined  to  his  idols;  let  him  alone."  Then, 
like  the  barren  fig-tree,  you  will  be  cut  down  while  yet  you 
stand.     In  a  world  of  hope,  you  will  be  in  despair;  in  tho 


4  MY    SPXJaXT    SHALL   NOT    ALWAYS    STRIVE. 

midst  of  life,  you  will  be  in  death  ;   on  this  side  the  grave, 
you  will  yet  be  in  hell. 

Suffer  "me,  then,  affectionately,  but  honestly,  to  remind 
you  that  your  state  id  fearfully  critical  and  dangerous. 
Snares  are  .-beneath  your  feet.  While  remaining  in  impeni- 
tence, you  go  onward,  not  knowing  but  the  next  step  your  dam-, 
nation  will  be  certain  —irretrievable.  Fellow-man,  stay  your 
feet.  Take  not  the  fatal  stop.  It  may  be  you  are  on  the 
verge  of  that  line,  beyond  which  all  is  darkness,  despair  and 
death.  The  pressing  calls  of  God,  by  his  providence,  his 
word,  and  his  preached  gospel,  to  repent,  you  have  rejected. 
When  aroused  to  the  consideration  of  duty,  you  have  heed- 
lessly postponed  its  claims,  and  relapsed  into  listlessness  and 
sin.  Days  speed  away  ;  Sabbath  succeeds  Sabbath  ;  year 
after  year  is  numbered  with  the  past — and  you  are  still  the 
enemy  ol  God.  The  time  will  come,  if  you  persist,  when  by 
some  act  of  transgression,  you  will  eternally  mar  the  prospect 
of  your  salvation.  May  not  the  present  be  that  critical  mo- 
ment, and  your  next  act  the  act  which  will  destroy  your  soul? 
May  not  the  act  be  your  neglecting  now  the  offer  of  mercy  ? 

I  shrink  from  the  possibility  of  being  made  the  instrument 
of  your  ruin  ;  but  this  very  warning,  rejected,  may  seal  your 
doom.  Oh,  I  beseech  yon,  in  Christ's  stead,  suffer  it  not  to 
pass  unimproved,  adding  despair  to  doubt,  and  endless  death 
to  death. 

The  message  is,  "God  in  Christ  Jesus  is  reconciling  the 
world  unto  himself."  The  command  has  gone  forth  from 
God  to  all  men  everywhere,  "Repent."  The  command  to 
thee,  fellow-sinner,  is,  "  Believe  on  the  Lord  Jesus  Christ," 
and  the  promise  is,  "Thou  shalt  be  saved."  But  the  fearful 
alternative  made  known  by  God,  immutably  true,  is,  "  If 
thou  believcst  not,  thou  shalt  be  damned."  Embrace  the 
offer  of  salvation  now,  lest  it  prove  your  last  opportunity — 
lest  God  lift  his  hand  and  swear,  "  You  shall  not  enter  into 
my  rest."  After  his  irrevocable  word  is  passed,  your  awful 
doom  may  indeed  excite  the  compassion  of  Cod;  he  may 
lament  over  you,  as  over  Jerusalem,  "  0  that  thou  hadst 
known,  even  thou,  in  this  thy  day,  the  things  that  belong  to 
thy  peace;"  yet  it  will  be  no  less  certain,  "  they  are  hid  from 
thine  eyes."  Your  doom  will  then  be  sealed.  Your  soul 
lost — lost  for  eternity. 


Hollinger  Corp. 
PH8.5 


